Chair support assembly



CHAIR SUPPORT ASSEMBLY Filed July 5, 1967 INVENTOR.

A WzZ/z'azzz A. Campe/Z 3'6 1 /BY United States Patent O 3,462,190 CHAIR SUPPORT ASSEMBLY William H. Campbell, Cleveland, Tenn., assignor to Lear Slegler, Inc., Santa Monica, Calif., a corporation of Delaware Filed July 5, 1967, Ser. No. 651,260 Int. Cl. A47c 1/02 US. Cl. 297-85 13 Claims AESTRAQlT OF THE DISCLOSURE An assembly for interconnecting a wooden chair frame and a wooden chair support base. The assembly includes a pair of spaced rail members having brackets secured thereto by fastener means and being adjustable for attachment to various different chair frames of various different widths. There is also included a metal support frome means adapted to be attached to a wooden chair support base. An operative means interconnects the rail members and the support frame means to allow relative moment therebetween which in turn allows the chair frame to move relative to the chair support base.

Various chairs are known which include a chair frame movable relative to a support base. One of the most comnn includes a chair frame which is rockably supported on a support base. Another such chair is one known in the art as a reclining chair and includes at least one leg support movable to an extended position in front of the chair when the back of the chair is moved to a reclined position.

Such chairs include a wooden chair frame which is in turn covered by upholstery. In addition, the support bases are also wooden and include decorative legs for supporting the entire assembly. Normally, an upholstered wooden chair frame is attached through an appropriate operative means to a chair base support so that the chair frame may move relative to the support base. The wooden chair frame utilizes wood members on either side to define the arms of the chair. One of the problems associated with such prior art chair assemblies is that it is impossible to maintain dimensional stability because the wood swells, warps and/ or shrinks. Therefore, it is diffisult to assemble components together. In addition, when assembling a recliner chair, it is difficult to attach the recliner linkage to the wood construction and frequently the wood construction is out of alignment because of swelling, warpage, and the like.

Accordingly, it is an object and feature of this invention to provide an assembly for interconnecting a chair frame and a chair support base and including an adjustment means which is adjustable for attachment to a chair frame of any one of various widths and to accommodate dimensional deviations in the chair frame.

Another object and feature of this invention is to provide an assembly for interconnecting a chair frame and a chair support base and which is readily adapted to receive and support a rocker-recliner or rocker linkage means.

In general, these and other objects and features of this invention may be attained in the following described preferred embodiment of an assembly for interconnecting a wooden chair frame and a wooden support base of the type including legs. The assembly includes a pair of spaced rail members having bracket means attached through an adjustable connection to each end thereof. Each bracket means includes a flange extending substantially transverse to the associated rail and is adapted to be connected to the Wooden chair frame. The respective bracket means may be adjusted longitudinally relative to ice the rail members so as to be attached to any one of various chair frames having any one of various widths as to compensate for dimensional variations. There is also included a support frame means having a pair of spaced metal side rails adapted to be attached to a chair support base and metal spacing members interconnecting the side rails. An operative means, such as a rocker box, interconnects the rail members and the spacing members of the support frame means so as to allow the rail members to move relative to the support frame means whereby the assembly may interconnect a chair frame and the chair support base so that the chair frame may move relative to the chair support base.

Other objects, features and attendant advantages of the present invention will be readily appreciated as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIGURE 1 is an elevational view partially broken away of a chair to show a preferred embodiment of the assembly of the instant invention:

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken substantially along line 2-2 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a perspective view of the preferred embodiment of the assembly of the instant invention; and

FIGURE 4 is a side elevational view showing the instant invention in combination with a recliner linkage.

Referring now to the drawings, wherein like numerals indicate like or corresponding parts throughout the several views, a chair assembly is generally shown at 10 in FIGURE 1. The chair assembly includes a chair frame 12 which includes upholstery disposed about wooden side frame members, one of which is shown at 14. The chair assembly also includes a wooden chair support base 16 which includes the legs 18. An assembly of the instant invention is generall shown at 20 for interconnecting the chair frame 12 and the support base 16 to allow relative movement therebetween.

The assembly 20 includes adjustment means comprising the rail members 22 and bracket means 24 adapted for attachement to the wooden members 14 of the chair frame 12, the adjustment means being adjustable for attachment to a chair frame of any one of various widths. Each bracket means 24 is defined by a metal member having a first portion 26 connected to a rail member by the fastener means 27 and a second portion defining a flange 28. The flange 28 extends substantially transverse to both the first portion 26 and the rail members 22 and is adapted to be atached t a chair frame by the holes through which the screws 30 extend. The bracket means 24 are attached to the respective rail members 22 by an adjustable connection as defined by the elongated slots 32 through which the fastener means 27 extend. Each rail member 22 comprises a metal angle member having an L-shaped cross section. Also included are the brace members 34 which interconnect the rail members 22. The brace members 34 may be disposed in place by fastener means which extend vertically therethrough and through the horizontal flange of the rail members 22 or the brace members 34 may be welded in position.

The assembly also includes a support frame means adapted for connection to the support base 16 and includes a pair of spaced metal side rails 36 which are attached to the wooden chair support base 16 by screws, or the like. Metal spacing members 38 interconnect the side rails 36. The spacing members 38 may be welded or otherwise appropriately attached to the side rails 36. The side rails 36 and the spacing members 38 are also angle members having a substantially L-shaped cross section.

Operative means comprising the rocker box, generally indicated at 40, is included for interconnecting the rail members 22 of the adjustment means and the spacing members 38 of the support frame means for allowing relative movement therebetween so that when the assembly is attached to a chair, as illustrated, the chair frame 12 may move relative to the support base 16. The rocker box is more specifically disclosed and claimed in US. Patent 3,263,955. The rocker box 40 includes upper and lower components which are pivotally connected together at 42 for movement relative to one another about an axis so as to allow the chair frame 12 to move relative to the support base 16 about the axis. It will be understood, however, that various other operative means may be utilized in the assembly to provide relative movement between the chair frame 12 and the support base 16 about an axis. For example, a swivel assembly may be disposed in the assembly to allow the chair frame 12 to rotate about a vertical axis relative to the base 16.

Another novel feature of the instant invention is the assembly in combination with the linkage means 44 as illustrated in FIGURE 4. More specifically, the linkage means 44 is made of metal and is atached to the brace means 34 and supports the chair back 46 and a legrest means 4 8 so that upon reclining movement of the chair back, the legrest means moves to the extended position. The linkage means 44 includes a support link 52 which through a roller contacts the plate 52 to stabalize the linkage 44 during reclining movement. By providing the combination as shown in FIGURE 4, the problems associated with the fabrication of a chair are significantly reduced since it is only necessary to attach the assembly to a chair support base and thereafter attach a chair frame to the bracket means 24, the bracket means'24 being adjustable to fit chair frames of various different dimensions. This is in contradistinction to the prior art wherein each of the respective components has to be individually attached to the wooden components of the chair frame and the chair support base. An example of a suitable linkage means is set forth in copending application Ser. No. 465,262, filed June 21, 1965 and assigned to the assignee of the instant invention.

The assembly, therefore, may be shipped to a chair manufacturer and attached to any one of various different support bases 16 and to a chair frame 12 having any one of various different widths or distances between the wooden members 14 thereof since the bracket means 24 may be moved relative to one another longitudinally of the rail members 22. Thus, the bracket means 24 compensate for warpage, shrinkage, and the like, in the wooden chair frame 12 and also allow the assembly to be attached to chair frames of different widths.

The invention has been described in an illustrative manner and it is to be understood that the terminology which has been used is intended to be in the nature of words of description rather than of limitation.

Obviously, many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in light of the above teachings.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. In a chair including a chair frame having side frame members, as support base, and an assembly for connecting the chair frame to the support base, said assembly comprising: rail means extending between the side frame members, bracket means mounted on the ends of the rail means for adjustment along the length of the rail means, said bracket means each having a flange for attachment with one of the side frame members, support frame means for connection with the support base, and means interconnecting said rail means and said support frame means.

2. The construction claimed in claim 1 wherein said last named means comprises operative means for connecting the rail means to the support frame means for pivotal movement about an axis parallel to the rail means such that the chair frame can pivot with respect to the base about said axis.

3. The construction claimed in claim 1 wherein said rail means comprises a pair of spaced rail members, and said bracket means comprises a bracket mounted on each end of each of said rail members.

4. The construction claimed in claim 3 further including brace means connecting said rail members together in spaced, substantially parallel relationship.

5. The construction claimed in claim 4 wherein said means interconnecting said rail means and support frame means comprises a rocker box for allowing relative movement between the rail means and support frame means.

6. An assembly for interconnecting a chair frame and a support base and including adjustment means adapted for attachment to a chair frame and being adjustable for attachment to a chair frame of any one of vrious widths; support frame means adapted for connection to a support base of a chair, and operative means interconnecting said adjustment means and said support frame means for allowing relative movement therebetween whereby said assembly may be attached to a chair frame and base to allow the chair frame to move relative to said base.

7. An assembly as set forth in claim 6 wherein said adjustment means includes a pair of metal rail members attached to said operative means, and bracket means attached through an adjustable connection to each end of each said rail members.

8. An assembly as set forth in claim 7 including brace means interconnecting said rail members, linkage means attached to said brace means and adapted to support a chair back and legrest means for moving said legrest means to an extended position upon reclining movement of the chair back.

9. An assembly as set forth in claim 7 wherein each bracket means comprises a metal member having a first portion connected to a rail member and a second portion extending substantially transverse to the first portion and adapted to be attached to a chair frame.

10. An assembly as set forth in claim 9 wherein said support frame means includes a pair of spaced metal side rails adapted to be attached to a chair support base and metal spacing members interconnecting said side rails and supporting said operative means.

11. An assembly as set forth in claim 10 wherein said adjustable connection comprises elongated slots in said metal rail members and fastener means extending therethrough and connected to the respective bracket means.

12. An assembly as set forth in claim 11 wherein said operative includes at least two components operatively connected together for movement relative to one another abut an axis, one of said components being connected to said rail members and the other being connected to said spacing members whereby said assembly may be attached to a chair frame and a chair support base to allow relative movement therebetween about said axis.

13. An assembly as set forth in claim 12 including brace means interconnecting said rail members, linkage means attached to said brace means and adapted to support chair back and legrest means for moving said legrest means to an extended position upon reclining movement of the chair back.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,589,795 6/1926 Emrich 248-172 X 2,922,467 l/1960 Ng 248-172 X 3,215,382 11/1965 Stein 248-172 3,263,951 8/1966 Stokes 248-172 3,322,495 5/1967 Hampton 297- JAMES T. XMcCALL, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R.

(9)23? UNITED S'IA'llfib' lA'lEN'l (nu-um CER'IIFICATIJ OF CORRECTION Patent N0. 9 Data; August 19, 1.969

Inventor (slllilliam H. Campbell It is certified that error appears in the ab0vc:idunt.1 1! ed paLent and that said LetLers Patent. are hereby corrt-c Led as shown below:

Column 1, line 19, "frome" should be -frame-. Column 2 line 21. should be line 51 "atached" should be -attached--; "t" should be --to-. Column 3 line 63, "as" should be --a-. Column 4, line 17 "vrious" should be -vario' line 50, after "operative" insert -means; line 52 "abut" should be about-.

In the references, Hampton patent number should be --3,322,459-- rather than "3,322,495"

SIGNED AN'D SEALED JUN2 197 fiEAL) Am mm: 12.", m. member Dominion of Patents Attesting Officer 

